Born to Jewish parents in 1950, as a little boy, Richard Slavin would often wonder who God was & who he was. His introspection grew to an extent that the voice in his heart led him to go to India in search of spiritual knowledge & off he set when he was barely 19.
His curiosity and deep sincerity of purpose led him to some extraordinary experiences and people. The hardships of his journey thus-far culminated in his meeting with A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, the empowered representative of the Lord who took the Bhakti movement to the west in the late 60s and spread the message & purpose of loving devotion to the Lord all over the world. Deep deliberations and convictions led Richard to accept Prabhupada as his spiritual master and thereupon he dedicated his life to serving his spiritual master’s mission—thus was born Radhanath Swami in the year 1973. Today, Radhanath Swami inspires millions on the spiritual path. He fosters a spirit of kindness, forgiveness and devotion in a world that is torn by duplicity, hypocrisy and intolerance. Radhanath Swami quotes the Vedic scriptures and says we must look for the solution to material problems not on the material plane but on a higher platform, the spiritual platform.
When he landed in Mumbai in 1986, he started the Radha Gopinath Temple project. His deep realizations of love and happiness led him to envision a closely knit successful community of grihastas (families basing their life on principles of God Consciousness.) He gave impetus to this idea by way of Lifestyle Counseling. To enable this, over a period of many years, he personally trained his senior disciples who would later take on the role of Lifestyle Counselors. Today, twenty five years later, this strong and vibrant grihasta community of Radha Gopinath Temple speaks volumes of the visionary and his guiding principles of successful married life. This beautiful temple and its flourishing community serves as a befitting offering at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada, and demonstrates that miracles can indeed spring from dedication and love.
